Shortly after i bought my car 6 months agoi replaced 3 engine mounts that were REALLY bad. I also had my badly shifting tranny flushed with Dex111 and then 3309. (my mech realised his mistake when i threw a tantrum).Now my transmission is shifting rather harshly again. Particularly when its hot. When I shift into D or R there is a delay and then it drops into gear hard sending a bit of a jolt thru the whole car, but only when its hot. Also if i am stationary and i shift manually up thru 1, 2, 3 and back downi can feel a strong jolt particularly either up or down into 2nd. I don't know if this is the same problem that causes the rough shifting and surgingin stop-start traffic when it feels like its taking a breath between gears and often has trouble deciding between 3rd and 4th. (feels very similar tothe clutch plate stickingin my old manual Sigma)This can be somewhat reduced by shifting manually, not immedieatly but if i shift manually for a few kms then the problem nearly dissappears. Theres also a delay from the throttle when it changes down from deceleration (ie going round a corner, it doesn't like accelerating out it).When my Tranmission Service mesage came on i was on the highway and my gear indicatorturned into a -- and it wouldn't go into 5th, i couldn't shift manually and ihad no cruise control. This was resetby restarting the car bu the message still remains and is accompanied by a check engine light and the service /!\ light.

So i have a couple of questions....

1. Does this sound like my transmission is on its way out or could it be any of the other issues that seem to mess with the tranny? ETM, MAF, O2, Turbo, vaccuum lines, radiator leak? or maybe a combination? Can i get more life out of the tranny with another flush and some new solenoids or something, is it worth the gamble?

2. If my tranny is on the way out i plan to get as much life out of it i can and drive it into the ground. Is this going to cause any other damage. Can therough shifting and jolting wear out the new engine mounts or anything else?

3. If a replace the transmission, what else is the process likely to include? I don't went to spend several thousands on a new tranny only to find out i still have half of these problems.

 

I would drive it till it dies. No more flushes no nothing.

It won't really cause anymore problems either.

 

Thanks Tech I think you're right, i'll just drive the transmission into the ground and try to ingore it.

Time to start wading thru all her other issues. She's lucky she's pretty!!!

 

I've discovered my drive problems may be largely dependant on which fuel i put in my car. Ialwaysput98 Octane in it but the brand seems to have a big influence as well.I know my Mirage used to behave very differently on diffent fuels. It used to hate BP fuel but ive just gone from Shell to BP in the Volvo and the majority of the drive problems are gone. There is still a bit of throttle delay after changing down in to 2nd but thats about it. I'll keep a close eye on fuel and behaviour and keep you posted.

 

UPDATE: Just went through 2 tanks of BP fuel and found that the transmission behaved a lot better but i lost a lot of power. Really bad flat spots at 2-3000RPM. Into my 2nd tank of Mobil Synergy and seems a lot better. Tranny acting up again a bit (not much) but i've got my power back. Finally discovering how the drive in this car is supposed to feel. How much fun!!!

I seem to have gotten rid of the majority of polterguists out of the car. She doesn't give me tourettes anymore.